A new ruling it’s feared could allow refugees from Gaza to head to Britain (Image: Getty )
the right to live in the UK following an appeal despite a Home Office argument it could open the “floodgates” has worked on immigration cases for more than a decade.
The family of six, comprising a mother, father and their four children who were aged 18, 17, eight and seven in September, were displaced when their home in the Gaza Strip was destroyed by an airstrike in the -Hamas war.
They applied for entry to the UK using the Family Scheme to join the father’s brother, who has lived in the UK since 2007 and is a British citizen, but this was refused in May last year after the Home Office concluded the scheme’s requirements had not been met.
The family, who have been granted anonymity, had an appeal against the decision dismissed
After a hearing in January, upper tribunal judges have allowed a further appeal on the grounds of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which protects the right to family life.
Judge Hugo Norton-Taylor ruled in favour of the appeal and allowed the family to remain in the UK. A profile shared by the Judiciary Office said he had been working on immigration cases for nearly 15 years.
In a previous case, Judge Norton-Taylor agreed the appeal of a failed Albanian asylum seeker who won the right to stay in Britain for the sake of his wife’s children by another man. Ramazan Morina, 27, successfully appealed under the ECHR to stop the UK sending him back to Albania.
The Mail Online reported, Judge Hugo Norton-Taylor said he had placed “significant weight” on a conclusion sending Mr Morina back to Albania would have “long-lasting detrimental effects” on his two stepchildren
The UN estimates there are around 1.6 million refugees and internally displaced persons in Gaza.
Speaking to the Express about the latest case involving the Palestinian family, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Judges, especially in immigration cases, are misusing their ability to define the meaning of vague clauses in the ECHR to adopt ever-expanding interpretations – going far beyond what the original writers of the ECHR wanted, and often defying the clear wishes of our democratically elected Parliament.
“The judgements often defy common sense – potentially opening the floodgates as here or letting dangerous foreign criminals stay in the UK on obviously absurd grounds.
“It is time Judges started to respect democracy more and use some common sense. Otherwise, legislative changes to human rights laws will be unavoidable.”
:
More than 1.6 million refugees are thought to be living in Gaza. (Image: Getty )
Sir said the Government was working to close the “legal loophole” after the Palestinian family were granted the right to live in the UK following the appeal under the family scheme.
Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch said during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday: “The Conservative government established the family scheme, and in total over 200,000 Ukrainians, mostly women, children and the elderly, have found sanctuary in the UK from Putin’s war. However, a family-of-six from Gaza have applied to live in Britain using this scheme, and a judge has now ruled in their favour.”
A spokesperson for the Judiciary Office said it would not comment on individual cases.
Judge Hugo Norton-Taylor said in his judgment: “We conclude that the respondent’s (Home Office’s) refusal of the collective human rights claim does not, on the particular facts of these cases, strike a fair balance between the appellants’ interests and those of the public.
“On a cumulative basis, the weight we attach to the considerations weighing on the appellants’ side of the scales demonstrates a very strong claim indeed. Put another way, there are very compelling or exceptional circumstances.
“Accordingly, the appellants’ appeals are allowed.”
The judge said the evidence shows the security and humanitarian situation in Gaza remains “exceptionally dangerous” and “dire”.
He highlighted that the youngest children, now aged seven and nine, are “at a high risk of death or serious injury on a daily basis” and that it is “overwhelmingly” in their best interests to be in a safe or safer environment together with their parents and siblings.
The judge also referred to what he called a “floodgates” argument, in which the Home Office said an obligation to admit the family risked the same outcome applying to those in other conflicts around the world.
A Home Office spokesperson told Express.co.uk: “The Home Office contested this claim rigorously at both the first and upper tier tribunal. The latter court ruled against us on the narrow facts of this specific case.
“Nevertheless, we are clear that there is no resettlement route from Gaza, and we will continue to contest any future claims that do not meet our rules.”
They added that the case was “very specific” and “does not set a precedent for other potential applicants”.
Don’t miss… [REVEAL ] [REPORT ] [SPOTLIGHT ]
Many migrants find their way to the UK via crossing the English Channel illegally (Image: Getty )
Judge Norton-Taylor was appointed by Her Majesty the Queen to be a Salaried Judge of the Upper Tribunal in 2019 on the advice of the Lord Chancellor, the Right Honourable David Gauke MP, and the Senior President of Tribunals, the Right Honourable Sir Ernest Ryder.
The Senior President of Tribunals assigned him to the Immigration and Asylum Chamber, effective May 28, 2019.
Hugo Benedict Norton-Taylor, now aged 51, was to be known as Upper Tribunal Judge Norton-Taylor.
He was called to the Bar in 2000 and was appointed as a fee-paid Judge of the First-tier Tribunal, Immigration and Asylum Chamber and the Social Entitlement Chamber in 2011.
He was re-assigned to the First-tier Tribunal, Immigration and Asylum Chamber in 2016 and appointed as fee-paid Deputy Upper Tribunal Judge of the Upper Tribunal, Immigration and Asylum Chamber in 2015.